Looking Good in Beijing from this Platform

The countdown to the Olympic Games in Beijing reads "60 Days" today and with a new role in the Olympic Games as the Canoe/Kayak color analyst for NBC, I couldn't be more excited. Fellow kayakers, friends, and family have been picking up the pace on questions like, "When will kayaking air on televison?" or "What are the U.S. prospects for a medal?"

The "new and different" elements to this Olympic Games are far-reaching and compelling. At the centerpoint, we have China, a huge and diversified host-country enthusiastically pulling together to put on an event of extreme national pride. No matter where your positions with China lie, if you tune into the Olympic Games this summer, your feelings and ideas about China are likely to be different than they are now.

And tuning into the Games will be a new and different experience too. With 1,400 hours of coverage on the various NBC networks, there will be plenty of action to catch at any time of day but the real progress driving the coverage of the Games is on the internet. At NBCOlympics.com, you'll be producing your own Olympic broadcast with live feeds of events and various options for watching them, customized highlight reels, and re-broadcasts of anything and everything that appeared on the network broadcast meaning if you don't want to watch kayaking at 2:30 in the morning, don't worry - wake up and watch us in the morning.

With 2,200 hours of internet coverage at NBCOlympics.com, updates and alerts on your cell phone on top of the traditional broadcast channels, these Olympic Games will be shared in a more personal way than ever before and I'm honored to help tell the stories behind the sport of Canoe/Kayak and its athletes.

Much more coming about the Games here at the "Gold Medal Living" blog and the Canoe/Kayak page at NBCOlympics.com but with 60 days to go, it seemed like a nice time to step back and enjoy the Olympic view, particularly from this platform.